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Mercury Sable

The Mercury Sable was launched as a midsize sedan in 1986 by the Ford Motor Company. The car was marketed as a rebadged Ford Taurus, and there were very few differences between the two cars. The Sable was a replacement for the Mercury Marquis and remained in production for over three decades. The car received some changes in 1992 and underwent a complete redesign in 1996. This redesigned model formed the basis of the future model years of the Sable until its production ended in 2005. However, in 2007 Ford announced that it would re-launch the Sable as a revamped Mercury Montego due to popular demand.

Although the Mercury Sable got a new lease on life in 2007, the sales did not live up to Ford’s expectations. As a result, production halted in May 2009, bringing the curtains down on an important chapter in America’s automotive history.

The Mercury Sable was a milestone for every party involved in its production including Ford Motors, Mercury and the American automotive industry. It was considered to be one of the most influential cars in its time. In fact, the Mercury Sable was soon dubbed as the ""Car that came from the moon"" by the press because of its futuristic design. From its inception in 1986 until 2005, Ford assembled more than 2 million Sables. What really contributed to the Sable’s futuristic look was the front ""lightbar,"" a lamp placed between the front headlamps. This lamp would later be incorporated in all other cars from the Mercury stable and was also copied by several other automakers in the early 1990s.

Mercury Sable Features

The 2009 Mercury Sable was an attempt by Ford to revive its older and more popular nameplates. The Sable was actually a refreshed Mercury Montego and its sales kicked off in July 2007. The changes to the Mercury Sable included a completely new front end that featured Mercury Milan headlamps, satin-aluminum exterior mirrors, new LED taillights, and door handle accents.

A 3.5-liter Cyclone engine that was borrowed from Ford powered the 2009 Mercury Sable. The car also used a continuously variable transmission system with the conventional six-speed automatic gearbox. The last Mercury Sable was produced on May 21, 2009, and the Mercury brand was shut down after the 2011 model year.

Mercury Sable Evolution

The Mercury Sable came at a time when Ford and Mercury were struggling in the midsize front-wheel drive car segment. The Mercury brand had suffered enormous setbacks in this period, so Ford decided to reinvigorate the brand by redesigning the Mercury Cougar. The first Sable would also be introduced later in 1986 with a new, unprecedented aerodynamic design. The design was one of the most important reasons for the car’s resounding success, and it birthed a new design era for Mercury and other American automakers. This was a time when cars were more aerodynamic when compared to the box-like cars of the 1970s and 1980s. The trademark of the Mercury Sable design was the flush aerodynamic-composite headlight design. The car was the first domestically-produced sedan to implement the new concept. Even the launch event of the Mercury Sable was newsworthy. It was held in MGM Studios’ Soundstage 85, where ""Gone with the Wind"" was filmed.

The Mercury Sable went into production from the 1986 model year with two variants: the base GS and the top-of-the-line LS. The car sold approximately 300,000 units within the first year of its launch.

The first significant update to the Mercury Sable was in 1992, which was when the interior was modernized. The front and rear fascias were also added. The first year of production for the new generation Mercury Sable saw a total of 410,000 units being sold. To this day, no other car generated the same kind of sales figures in one year.

The third generation of the Mercury Sable saw a complete redesign. This was done with the objective of replicating the success of the 1986 Sable. The newly introduced oval theme, however, did not impress either critics or the public, resulting in a huge dip in sales. The price of the Mercury Sable also increased considerably, which drove away a fair share of the target market.

The fourth and final generation of the Mercury Sable began in 2000 with another redesign to rectify the 1996 model. The company reduced the oval design elements and replaced them with more conventional style elements. The roof of the car over the rear passenger space was elevated, which improved the headroom that was sacrificed in the tapered design of the 1996 Sable. The trunk space was also increased, and the interior became more conventional, although it retained some elements from the 1996 model.